


Sweeten My Heart

by breathingdestiel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Best Friends, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Jealous Castiel, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pet Names, Pining, Tumblr: deancas-sweetheart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-17
Packaged: 2018-09-24 23:43:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9792278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breathingdestiel/pseuds/breathingdestiel
Summary: Cas is in love with his best friend who is straight and could never love him back. But why is Dean all of a sudden calling him sweetheart, sunshine, and other pet names? Is it possible that Cas' love isn't unrequited after all?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for deancas-sweetheart on Tumblr. This is unbeta'd, sorry.

          

 

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” Dean says.

Dean? Oh, Cas must be dreaming. Wouldn’t be the first time.

He feels a brush of lips on his forehead and sighs. That felt real, but it couldn’t have been. Because Dean is his best friend and isn’t even remotely interested in Cas. Cas knows that because Dean constantly flirts with others and it hurts. It has been hurting him for years.

“Dean,” Cas whispers into the void. “Love you, Dean.”

He has never said those words out loud before, but it is okay now. Because he’s dreaming. And no one will ever know.

* * *

 

Grabbing his backpack, Cas walks out of his house. It’s a brief walk to the Winchester’s house where Dean is already waiting for him.

“Hello, Dean,” Cas greets him and gets a bright beam in return.

“Morning, sunshine,” Dean says, too cheerily for a Monday morning. Cas falters for a moment, hearing the nickname, so similar to the one in his dream, and yet so far from it, but recovers quickly. The dream’s been haunting him the whole weekend and he doesn’t need it haunting him now, when Dean is right beside him.

They get into the car and Dean starts the engine, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel.

“Why are you in such a good mood, Dean? It’s Monday,” Cas mutters, raising his eyebrow.

“Well, we can’t all be grumps like you,” Dean smirks and then looks at him. “Besides, maybe I’m just really happy to see you, sweetheart.” To make things worse, he throws him a wink too, overdramatic one, but still a wink.

Cas’ heart stops beating for several moments, before it starts pounding so fast, he’s sure it can be seen through his clothes. To crown it, his skin grows warmer and he knows he’s blushing. Great. At least Dean doesn’t seem to notice his flustered state, his gaze focused on the road.

What are the chances of Dean using _that_ _word,_ merely days after Cas has dreamed him saying it? He wants to cry, he wants to yell, he wants… He wants it to be real…

Lost in his thoughts, Cas didn’t notice they pulled up in the school’s parking lot, but he becomes aware of it when Dean snaps his fingers in front of his face.

“Earth to Cas. Where did you go, buddy?”

That’s right. Buddy. Dean is his _friend_. He should focus on that and just erase the damn dream from his mind.

“Sorry, spaced out,” he bites out and gets out of the car. “See you later.”

With a small wave, he leaves Dean, hurrying to school. Hopefully by the third period, the one he shares with Dean, he will get over the turmoil in his head and return to normal.

* * *

 

It gets worse. If he didn’t know better, he would think Dean is doing it on purpose.

Baby, honey, darling, sunshine, angel and what seems to be Dean’s favorite, sweetheart. In the last two weeks, Dean has used all those pet names for him several times a day. Of course, always coupled with an exaggerated wink and a little smirk.

“Thanks, angel,” when Cas lent him a pen.

“See you tomorrow, darling,” after he dropped Cas off at home.

“Isn’t that right, honey?” when he was joking around with Charlie.

“I knew you could do it, baby,” when Cas aced his exam.

And so on.

Cas is going to explode. On one hand, he loves the attention Dean is giving him; he’s basking in it. But on the other hand, he hates that it isn’t the kind of attention he craves. Needless to say, Cas had a rough couple of weeks, the frustration in him growing bigger and bigger.

Maybe it would be easier to ignore it if there hadn’t been one time when Dean’s mask seemed to have slipped off and he looked like he really meant what he was saying.

Last Friday, they were driving home after school and were supposed to go to Dean’s together.

“Look, Cas, I’m beat. I don’t think I’ll be good company today. You won’t mind if-”

“It’s alright, Dean. I’m tired too. It’s been a pretty busy week. You should definitely go to bed as soon as you get home.”

“Oh, yeah, man, definitely. All I can see right now is my sweet, sweet bed waiting for me.”

“Well, I hope that’s not true, otherwise we’re going to end up in a ditch somewhere.”

They laughed briefly, and the rest of the ride passed mostly in silence until Dean stopped the car in front of Cas’ house.

Cas was about to say goodbye when he was interrupted by Dean’s yawn.

“You really are exhausted. Are you sure you can drive?”

“Cas, it’s a minute’s drive to my house. I think I’ll manage.” Dean rolled his eyes. “But I appreciate the concern.”

Their eyes met and Cas froze in his seat, not being able to look away. For a moment, they just stared at each other before Cas remembered how to speak.

“Go home and rest, Dean. We don’t want you to pass out.” He smiled, his eyes still glued to Dean’s.

“Thanks, sweetheart,” Dean said, his smile more genuine than his usual smirks. “I’ll talk to you later, okay.”

“Of course,” Cas nodded, dumbfounded. His heart was beating briskly and his mind was focused on the softness of Dean’s gaze, the crinkles of his eyes and the heartfelt way he had said ‘sweetheart’. There was no way Cas had imagined it.

He said a hasty goodbye, and rushed out of the car to his house, not looking back once.

Ever since that day, Cas has been confused and annoyed. Annoyed with Dean for using the stupid nicknames in the first place and annoyed with himself for reading into it too much. Yet, one part of him is thrilled because those nicknames are just for him. Dean has never used them on other people, not as a joke and not as a way of flirting. And that train of thought leads to a dangerous idea that maybe, just maybe…. Cas has a chance with him.

* * *

 

Naturally, everything comes crashing down.

Cas is walking to his locker when he sees Dean, probably waiting for him, and Lisa, Cas’ locker neighbor, talking. Dean notices him and smiles at him before turning back to Lisa. When Cas gets close enough he catches a part of their conversation and his heart breaks.

“…sweetheart. So, I’ll see you on Tuesday.”

Dean called Lisa ‘sweetheart’ and he’ll see her on Tuesday, on _Valentine’s_ day. And just like that the fact that Dean is straight and will never love him, never be _in love_ with him, slaps him in the face.

By the time, he reaches Dean, Lisa is thankfully gone. He isn’t sure if he would have been able to stay polite with when all he wants to do is cry, but he knows she doesn’t deserve his anger. It’s not her fault Cas was dumb enough to fall for Dean.

“Hey, buddy. You okay?” Dean greets him with a smile.

“Yes, Dean. Just really tired.” He buries his head in his locker, pretending he’s looking for something, so he could delay facing Dean.

“Oh,” Dean says. “Well, I’ll just take you home then.”

Cas frowns, he doesn’t remember them making any other plans. “That’s what you usually do, yes.”

“Well, I was thinking that maybe we could, um, go grab some burgers or something, but it’s no big deal if you don’t wanna.”

Cas finally closes his locker and turns his gaze to Dean, who is staring at the floor. He looks disappointed and Cas’ first instinct is to comfort him and say that yes, of course he wants to go, but then he remembers Lisa and his stomach turns upside down. There is no way he could hang out with Dean now- he needs some time alone.

“Maybe some other time,” he offers instead.

“Yeah, sure,” Dean smiles, but it’s not as bright as before. Cas looks away.

In silence, they walk to the car and in silence, they ride home.

Cas wonders if he should say something, but he doesn’t feel like talking. Besides, he has no idea what he would say.

He wishes he was home. He wishes he wasn’t in love with his best friend.

Letting out a small sigh, he glances at Dean and catches his gaze. Dean quickly averts his eyes before suddenly pulling the car over.

“What are you doing, Dean?”

Dean turns around to face him, his face serious. “Listen, Cas, I know you’re tired, but I really need to talk to you. I just can’t stand it anymore.”

Cas swallows hard. “Stand what?” Does he know?

“I- So, I was talking to Lisa and…”

So, that’s what Dean wants to talk about, he’s going to tell him about his date with Lisa. But why the hell now?

“Is this really that important?” Cas hisses, wincing at the irritation in his voice and sees Dean draw back slightly.

“I don’t know what got you so pissed, but you really need to listen-”

“Look, Dean, I don’t really care about you and Lisa, and I’m not in the mood to hear about your date, or whatever-”

“Jesus, Cas,” Dean rolls his eyes. “If you could just _shut up_ for a second.”

“Please just drive me home, Dean,” Cas says, sounding somewhat desperate.

“No.”

“Dean,” Cas warns. He doesn’t want to be angry at Dean, but his friend is starting to get on his nerves.

“No,” Dean repeats and before Cas could say anything, Dean puts his hands on his cheeks, pulling their faces close, and renders Cas speechless.

“Cas, just fucking _listen_. I am not going on a date with Lisa. I’m trying to ask _you_ out,” Dean says, slowly, emphasizing every word.

What?

“What?” Cas manages to croak out.

“Cas, do you want to go out with me? Because I’m in love with you and I’m pretty sure you are in love with me too. Or am I wrong?”

Cas shakes his head, but can’t respond, he just stares into Dean’s eyes. Dean looks sincere and he’s not moving away. Is this really happening?

“You with me, sweetheart? Say something.”

The word prompts him to speak. “But- But you called Lisa sweetheart too, and you have a date with her on Valentine’s day and-”

Dean finally removes his hands and looks down, cheeks growing slightly pink. “I didn’t call _her_ that, I said ‘Here’s my sweetheart’ when I saw _you_ coming. And I’m not going on a date with her. She invited me to her party, to which I was hoping you’d go with me, as my date.”

“Oh.”

“Yes.”

They stare at each other again.

“You’re in love with me?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure?”

Dean laughs and rolls his eyes. “Yes, Cas, I’m sure.”

“I’m in love with you, too.”

“Yeah, I thought so.”

Cas tilts his head. “How did you know? Was I so obvious? Wait, if you knew, why didn’t you say-”

“Calm down, Cas. One question at the time,” Dean laughs. “First of all, I found out that you liked me only a few weeks ago, but once I knew, I realized you _were_ pretty obvious.”

Cas opens his mouth to protest, but Dean cuts him off.

“You stare at me like all the time and blush whenever I wink at you.”

“Well, if I am so obvious, why didn’t you realize before? How exactly did you find out? No one else knew.”

Dean gives him a disbelieving look, “Dude, everybody knows. I mean, I asked Charlie about it and she wasn’t surprised at all. But, to be honest, I probably wouldn’t have realized it if you yourself hadn’t told me.”

Cas’ eyes grow wide. “I never-”

“Remember, a few weeks ago, when we were watching the Ghostbusters. That’s when it all started. You see, you fell asleep on my shoulder and I couldn’t stop staring at you. All I could think about at that moment was ‘I love him, I love him, I love him so fucking much’,” Dean blushes again, “And anyway before I went home, I tucked you in and- and kissed your forehead and then you said it.”

“I thought I was dreaming…”

“Yeah, I got that. But still, it got me thinking. I mean, obviously, I knew you were super hot and awesome before, but I never really thought about, you know, being with you for real. But when you said you loved me, and I realized I loved you too, I decided to give it a shot.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“I had to make sure you’re really into me- we’ve been friends for years and I was scared, I guess, that this could ruin it or whatever if I’m wrong. So I talked to Charlie and my mom, and I tried to flirt with you to see your reaction.”

“That was you flirting?” Cas asks, raising his eyebrow.

Dean rubs the back of his neck and chuckles. “Yeah, maybe I could’ve done it better. But, I really loved seeing you get all flustered because of me.” Dean winks, eliciting a smile from Cas, which he must have noticed because he soon grins too.

Once again silence stretches between them, but it isn’t uncomfortable and tense. No, they stare at each other, smiles on their faces, and the air between them is pleasantly easy. All his dreams have come true. This is it. Cas couldn’t be happier.

He takes a deep breath and speaks, “Dean, I would love to go out with you.”

“Yeah?” Dean says, his eyes glued to Cas’ lips, giving Cas the courage to continue.

“Yes, but only under one condition,” he says as he tries to pull a serious face.

Dean expression crumbles. “What?”

“Kiss me.”

Clearly relieved, Dean leans in, the smile returning to his face. “I think I can do that, sweetheart.”

So he does.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked it, please leave kudos or comment <3 Also, you can check out my [tumblr](http://breathingdestiel.tumblr.com/)


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